Name:

Unit 1 Packet

Principles of Government

Bring this packet with you to class every day. All of the assignments for this unit are contained within and will be turned in the day of the unit test.

Quick Write: Why is government necessary?

Purposes of Government

Step One:

In the box below, draw a colored image representing life WITHOUT government. What would it look like? / In the box below, draw a colored image representing life WITH government (or the benefits of having a government. What would it look like?
Describe the above scene: / Describe the above scene:

Step Two: Read pages 8-10 (the Preamble to the Constitution), and do the following:

Form a more perfect union

Define:
Draw a picture/icon to represent this purpose of government: /

Establish justice

Define:
Draw a picture/icon to represent this purpose of government: /

Insure domestic tranquility

Define:
Draw a picture/icon to represent this purpose of government:

Provide for the common defense

Define:
Draw a picture/icon to represent this purpose of government: /

Promote the general welfare

Define:
Draw a picture/icon to represent this purpose of government: /

Secure the blessings of liberty

Define:
Draw a picture/icon to represent this purpose of government:

Look back over your “Life With Govt.” picture…which of the 6 purposes of government does your picture look like? Why?

Quick Write: Where did government come from? What is its purpose?

Government and where it came from…

1. What is government?

Government is the institution through which a society ______its public policies.

Public policies of a government are all of those things a government decides to do ( ______, education, crime, health rights, working conditions).

2.Every government has…

Legislative power- the power to make______

Executive power- the power to ______law

Judicial power- the power to ______, and settle disputes in society

3. The four main theories…

  • The Force Theory
  • The ______Theory
  • The Divine Right Theory
  • The ______Theory

4. The Force Theory

  • Many scholars believe that the idea of ______came about because of force.
  • One person or a small group claimed ______over an area and forced all within it to ______to their ______.
  • When that rule was established the basic elements of the ______; ______, ______, ______, and ______were present.

Draw a picture here to illustrate this theory.

5. The Evolutionary Theory

  • Other scholars argue that the idea of government developed naturally out of the early ______.
  • Within the primitive family there was one person at the ______, in other words the one that ______.
  • Over time the one family developed into a ______of related families or a ______.
  • Eventually the clan became a ______.
  • Eventually the tribe went through the ______and tied itself to the land- a state was ______. (Awww!)

Draw a picture here to illustrate this theory.

6. The Divine Right Theory

  • When you learned about European politics from the 15-18th centuries you learned about ______.
  • Divine Right stated that ______created the state and that God had given those of ______a “divine right” to rule.
  • The people had to obey their ______as they would obey God.
  • Any who opposed Divine Right were charged with ______and ______sin.

Draw a picture here to illustrate this theory.

7. Questioning the Divine Right Theory

  • Remember that event in European history called the ______?
  • During the Enlightenment many people started to question ______and people eventually began to govern using the present-day ______government model.

8. The Social Contract Theory

  • Before governments all people were free to do what they pleased. Meaning they could take what they wanted from whoever they wanted…utter ______right?
  • The Social Contract Theory states that people decided to form a ______so that they could all be safe.
  • All people living in the given area of the state gave up the same ______of ______and in return received ______and ______.
  • The state exists only to serve the ______.

Draw a picture here to illustrate this theory.

What acronym will help you remember all 4 theories?

Systems of Government

Using your book pages 13 – 16 complete the charts below. Then answer the questions that follow.

System based on geographic distribution of power
Confederation/
Confederate
Government / Federal / Unitary
Define and explain the system. Who has power? How is it shared?
Structure (Draw a diagram/picture to illustrate the structure)
Example Countries
Advantages of this system?
Disadvantages of this system?
Parliamentary / Presidential
Define and explain the system. Who has power? How is it shared?
Structure (Draw a diagram/picture to illustrate the structure)
Example Countries
Advantages of this system?
Disadvantages of this system?
Democracy (two types) / Dictatorship/Authoritarian/Absolutist
Define and explain the system. Who has power? How is it shared? / Direct-
Representative- / Autocracy-
Oligarchy-
Monarchy-
Structure (Draw a diagram/picture to illustrate the structure)
Example Countries
Advantages of this system?
Disadvantages of this system?

System based on the relationship between the government and the people

Use your notes above and the extra handout to help you answer these questions below.

1. Why are anarchies absent in the world today?

2. Could a parliamentary or presidential system also be a dictatorship? Why or why not?

3. Based on what we have discussed, what geographic distribution of power do you think a dictatorship would best operate under? Explain your reasoning.

4. What does it mean to be sovereign and why is it important (page 6)

5. What is legitimacy and why is it important?

6. Based on the map below and the definition of a federal government, why do you think so many large countries have a federal government?

Practice Qs: Using your notes and your partners, answer the following questions. You may see some like these later on quizzes and tests.

  1. True or false? In a confederacy, the central government holds most of the power.
  1. True or false? Unitary governments are automatically dictatorships because all of the power is controlled by one person.
  1. True or false? Federal governments share power over space between a central government and state governments.
  1. True or false? In a parliamentary government, the prime minister is chosen by the people.
  1. True or false? A government in which the executive and legislative branches are separate and coequal is called a parliamentary system.
  1. True or false? An oligarchy can include representative democracy.
  1. True or false? A monarchy can be like a dictatorship or it can be part of a democracy.
  1. True or false? A democracy can have both representative and direct characteristics at the same time.
  1. True or false? Theocracy can coexist with monarchy.
  1. True or false? An oligarch can be like a dictatorship.

Initiative & Referendum

Directions: Students will weigh the pros and cons of direct democracy by investigating the practice used in Michigan and one of the 24 other states: allowing public policy to be made through the initiative process. Students will debate this issue by taking and defending positions on the use of direct democracy as opposed to the representative democracy envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. Go to the website “Initiative & Referendum Institute” ( to answer the following questions below.

1. Define the terms “initiative” and “referendum” in your own words.

a. initiative-

b. referendum-

2. What is the major difference between an initiative and a referendum?

3. List one other state that has the initiative and popular referendum process besides Michigan by looking at the map.

4. What year was the state-level initiative and referendum adopted for Michigan? For the one other state you choose what year was the state-level initiative and referendum adopted?

a. Michigan -

b. ______-

(Write chosen state in blank)

5. Describe the basic steps to undertake an initiative campaign for Michigan.

6a. Describe the basic steps to undertake an initiative campaign for your one other chosen state.

6b. Are there any differences compared to the basic steps for Michigan? (Explain your reasoning).

7. What are some examples of initiatives that have come before the voters in Michigan? (Explain at least 3).

8. What are some examples of initiatives that have come before the voters in your chosen state? (Explain at least 3).

9. Look at a state that has popular referendum only. What differences do you notice about the amount of ballot propositions come before voters compared to Michigan and the one other state you examined?

10. Take a stance: Initiatives and referendums are two examples of direct democracy, which involve voters directly in the law making process. Keeping in mind that initiatives and referendums are examples of direct democracy and the Framers of our Constitution were concerned about the common citizen being directly involved in the law making process do you think we should be fearful or see any dangers to these procedures? Or do you believe the initiative and referendum procedures of the use of citizen initiative to create laws in individual states of the United States to be an advantage? (Take a stance and provide reasoning for your decision).

Core Democratic Values reading/note assignment

Use pages 18-24 to answer the following questions.

1. The American concept of democracy rests on these basic notions: worth of the individual, equality of all persons, majority rule with minority rights, the necessity of compromise, and individual freedom. These are what we as Americans should value, and hold dear. Describe each below.

a. Worth of the Individual

b. Equality of all Persons

c. Majority Rule with Minority Rights

d. the Necessity of Compromise

  1. Individual Freedom

2. In the United States, we DO NOT have equality of condition but we do have equality of opportunity. What does this mean?

3. Sometimes CDVs conflict with other CDVs. Give an example of where individual freedoms and life (worth of the individual) might conflict.

4. Why is “Necessity of Compromise” so tough in a diverse society?

5. Which Core Democratic Value seems to be the MOST important? Explain.

Comparing Economic Systems


Karl Marx, German philosopher, economist, and revolutionary, laid the ideological groundwork for modern socialism and communism.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels turned the world upside down.

Until the publication of their 1848 Communist Manifesto, much of the western world followed a course where individuals owned private property, business enterprises, and the profits that resulted from wise investments. Marx and Engels pointed out the uneven distribution of wealth in the capitalist world and predicted a worldwide popular uprising to distribute wealth evenly. Ever since, nations have wrestled with which direction to turn their economies.

Capitalism

  • Capitalism is based on private ownership of the means of production and on individual economic freedom. Most of the means of production, such as factories and businesses, are owned by private individuals and not by the government. Private owners make decisions about what and when to produce and how much products should cost. Other characteristics of capitalism include the following:

Free competition. The basic rule of capitalism is that people should compete freely without interference from government or any other outside force. Capitalism assumes that the most deserving person will usually win. In theory, prices will be kept as low as possible because consumers will seek the best product for the least amount of money.

The antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft is one way that the government has tried to promote competition. Supporters of Microsoft say that forcing Microsoft to allow companies to bundle arch-rival Netscape's web browser with Microsoft Windows is not unlike making Coca-Cola include a can of Pepsi in each six-pack it sells.

  • Supply and demand. In a capitalist system prices are determined by how many products there are and how many people want them. When supplies increase, prices tend to drop. If prices drop, demand usually increases until supplies run out. Then prices will rise once more, but only as long as demand is high. These laws of supply and demand work in a cycle to control prices and keep them from getting too high or too low.

Communism

Karl Marx, the 19th century father of communism, was outraged by the growing gap between rich and poor. He saw capitalism as an outmoded economic system that exploited workers, which would eventually rise against the rich because the poor were so unfairly treated. Marx thought that the economic system of communism would replace capitalism. Communism is based on principles meant to correct the problems caused by capitalism.

The most important principle of communism is that no private ownership of property should be allowed. Marx believed that private ownership encouraged greed and motivated people to knock out the competition, no matter what the consequences. Property should be shared, and the people should ultimately control the economy. The government should exercise the control in the name of the people, at least in the transition between capitalism and communism. The goals are to eliminate the gap between the rich and poor and bring about economic equality.

Socialism

Socialism, like communism, calls for putting the major means of production in the hands of the people, either directly or through the government. Socialism also believes that wealth and income should be shared more equally among people. Socialists differ from communists in that they do not believe that the workers will overthrow capitalists suddenly and violently. Nor do they believe that all private property should be eliminated. Their main goal is to narrow, not totally eliminate, the gap between the rich and the poor. The government, they say, has a responsibility to redistribute wealth to make society more fair and just.

There is no purely capitalist or communist economy in the world today. The capitalist United States has a Social Security system and a government-owned postal service. Communist China now allows its citizens to keep some of the profits they earn. These categories are models designed to shed greater light on differing economic systems.

Using these readings, create a Venn diagram to show similarities and differences between these economic systems.

Make 2 Generalizations about the video history clip: “March of Democracy”

ISIS Article #1: The First Terror Group to Build an Islamic State

Video:

(CNN) -- The face of a balding, middle-aged man stares unsmilingly into the camera. He is dressed in a suit and tie and could pass for a midlevel bureaucrat.

But the photograph is that of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who has transformed a few terror cells harried to the verge of extinction into the most dangerous militant group in the world.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has thrived and mutated during the ongoing civil war in Syria and in the security vacuum that followed the departure of the last American forces from Iraq.

The aim of ISIS is to create an Islamic state across Sunni areas of Iraq and in Syria.

With the seizure of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and advances on others, that aim appears within reach.

ISIS controls hundreds of square miles where state authority has evaporated. It ignores international borders and has a presence all the way from Syria's Mediterranean coast to south of Baghdad.

What are its origins?

In 2006, al Qaeda in Iraq -- under the ruthless leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- embarked on seemingly arbitrary and brutal treatment of civilians as it tried to ignite a sectarian war against the majority Shia community.

It came close to succeeding, especially after the bombing of the Al-Askariya Mosque, an important Shia shrine in Samarra, which sparked retaliatory attacks.

But

the kill

ing of al-Zarqawi by American forces, the vicious treatment of civilians and the emergence of the Sahwa (Awakening) Front

s under moderate Sunni tribal leaders nearly destroyed the group.

Nearly, but not qu

ite.

When U.S. forces left Iraq, they took much of their intelligence-gathering expertise with them.

Iraqi officials began to speak of a "third generaton" of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Two years ago, a former spokesman for the U.S. milit

ary in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, warned that "if the Iraqi security forces are not able to put pressure on them, they could regenerate."

The capability of those Iraqi forces was fa

tally compromised by a lack of professional soldiers, the division of military units along sectarian lines and a lack of the equipment needed f

or fighting an insurgency, such as attack helicopters and reconnaissance capabilities.

The new al Qaeda was rebranded in 2006 as the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). It wo

uld add "and Syria" to its name later.

The group exploited a growing perception among many Sunnis that they were being persecuted by the Shia-dominated government led

by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, starved of resources and excluded from a share of power.

The arrest of senior Sunni political figures and heavy-handed suppression of Sunni dissent were the best recruiting sergeants ISI could have. And it helped the new leader re-establish the group's influence.

Who is its master of terror?

Abu Bakr al Baghdadi graduated to the top job in 2010 -- at the age of 39 -- after Abu Omar al Baghdadi was killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation.

Al Baghdadi's group was in a pitiful state. But with U.S. forces and intelligence on the way out, he launched a revival.

Very little is known about Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, but a biography posted on jihadist websites last year said he held a Ph.D. in Islamic studies from a university in the capital.

He formed his own militant group in the Samarra and Diyala areas, where his family was from, before joining al Qaeda in Iraq.